League Of Glass
by Mediumcool2000
Summary: Sequel to Gentlemen Prefer Amazons. Wonder Woman makes a decision that could not only tear her and Batman apart but tear apart the League as well.
1. A Winter Knight At Bay

Gotham winters were known as some of the most bitterly cold winters in the United States. Residents from Central City, Metropolis, and New York would argue that their respective cities were far colder in temperature and far bitter. But Gotham's temperature in reality was no colder than any other city but to those who live in Gotham understood that it was something about the city itself which made the cold harsher. No one understood that better then it's most famous resident, the Batman, who's often spent many winters swinging across its rooftops through the cutting snow and wind. Gothamites stood a better chance of catching a glimpse at Batman from the contrast of his black costume against the bleached cityscape, albeit not by much since he had an uncanny knack for finding dark shadows anywhere.

Tonight however another familiar Gotham form clad in red, black and yellow swung deftly through the air tonight. Robin wished at this moment that he should have asked Alfred for sleeves on his costume as his current winter costume insulted everything but his exposed arms., allowing the wind chill to cut deeper into his exposed flesh.

After landing softly on a nearby rooftop, he scanned it for signs of his partner for his nightly patrol. But as usual, the only footprints in the snow were his and that of several stray cats that were already long gone. Robin cupped his hands and drew them to his mouth, blowing into them to keep some heat and feeling in his nearly numb fingers. The recent beating he gave to several gang members trying to attack a family of four did give him a rush of heat but it died down all too quickly in the night's air.

"Hey." Said a familiar male voice "Up here."

He looked up to see the long dark haired figure of Nightwing sitting on top of a wooden water tower. Robin smiled as he used his grapple to soon rise up to where the older crime fighter sat.

"Did you get…" asked Robin

"Yea. Got you the number seven with no pickles. It's behind me."

"Awesome!" Beamed Robin as grabbed the brown paper bag and began to dig into its contents.

After Tim Drake became the new Robin, he had gained a new family. Bruce Wayne became his surrogate father but Dick Grayson became the bigger brother Tim had never had. Dick and Tim had recently a great deal of time in and out of costume along with Barbara Gordon, who was Batgirl, visiting Metropolis. They had formed what Barbara called: A wayward Bat-youth club. Tim would never admit it but he loved spending time with his new "family", often feeling for the first time in his life that he was allowed to be a kid

"Nice moves taking out the guys from the T-gang. But you're leaving your left flank too open."

"Nof hmm cot." Responded Tim through a mouthful of sandwich "Ihm koally whot hoben."

Nightwing smiled before sipping from his thermos of coffee and waited for Robin to finish wolfing down his remaining bites.

"Did you get my cocoa?" asked Robin

"All they had was coffee." Said Nightwing as he poured a bit of black liquid from the thermos into the thermos top.

Robin took the makeshift cup and sniffed it carefully before taking a cautious sip.

"Blagh!"

"It's good for you. Keeps you awake and sharp." Said Nightwing as he smiled at his reaction. "Got a new tip from an informant that the Penguins getting a new shipment in at the docks and that Two-Face is going to try to make a move on it."

"How long we got till it goes down?"

"Half an hour. Enough time for that sandwich to digest."

"Aw man." Cried Robin as he took another bite out of his sandwich.

"Please, you got it easy. When I wore the red tights I had to eat an entire thanksgiving dinner in the Batmobile while chasing down Riddler clues. Woofing down turkey with a chaser of gravy isn't as fun as it sounds."

"Speaking of which, a little birdy told me that the Demon's are now working with the Riddler on a new score."

"The Demons?"

"It's a new gang old man. Try to keep up." Chided Robin before taking another bite out of his sandwich.

Nightwing simply looked over at him with his classic lopsided grin and mussed the younger crime fighters hair.

Both of them sat for a moment watching the crowd below in full Christmas shopping rush. It was a multicolored throng of colored coats colliding and slipping through each other in a chaotic mash. Even in this mess of people, both of them automatically scanned for potential threats of a weapon or a pick pocket. The only stationary object aside from the street lights was a lone man dressed as Santa with a fake beard ringing a bell next to a large black pot full of change

"So are we busting up the party at the docks without Batman or what?" asked Robin

"Didn't tell him about it. We can handle this one ourselves." Responded Nightwing

"Is it because of…"

"Yea. It's cause of _her_."

Robin finished the last of his sandwich and looked out towards the dark waters of Gotham Bay.

"He isn't gonna like being left out of the loop like that." Warned Robin

"Well he can cry himself to sleep on her…uh…bracelets. Anyway even _Batman_ needs to rest from having damage to his rotator cuff." Said Nightwing as drained his thermos, the feeling of spreading warmth from his core.

"So how long do you think this one's gonna last?" asked Robin as he got up to his feet and began his stretching routine to warm his muscles.

"I don't know this time."

"What do you mean you _don't_ know?" responded Robin as he cracked his knuckles and rose to his feet. "I mean he usually dates them for like two weeks and then he calls it quits. I think Zatanna was the longest out of all of them. Wasn't Catwoman in there too?"

Robin could recall some the women in Bruce Wayne's life and how he mostly would set up several dates and then disappear when it came time to become Batman. It was a fairly regular occurrence that Tim wouldn't even bothering to know their names since they all became such a blur. He knew only knew of one other "cape" from the Justice League that he dated for awhile before his mission in protecting Gotham got in the way.

"Believe me kid, I've seen him do this longer then you have. This one's different." Answered Nightwing

"She's only been around for a month. How serious could it be?"

"He let her drive the car."

Robin froze in place for a moment and let the weight of the comment sink in before answering: "Whoa."

Inside the warm glow of a bedroom inside Wayne manor far from the biting cold of the Gotham night, Bruce Wayne closed his eyes in a rare moment of perfect Zen. Wearing nothing, he was lost in a tangle of bed sheets, sweat, limbs and black hair with Diana of Themyscria, known better to the world as Wonder Woman. His breath slowed to a controlled deliberate pace from the frantic tempo that it was engaged in moments ago. He concentrated on nothing else aside from the long dark silky strands of black hair that ran through his fingers and the soft touch of her breath on his chest.

Of course it didn't' last long as his thoughts drifted from the present moment to whether Nightwing is covering the illegal shipment at the docks.

"You're thinking again." Hummed Diana while tracing her finger around the scar on his lower abdomen

"I am not." Bruce responded

"Liar."

Bruce could feel her cheek curl up into a smile against his skin.

"Oh? Did lie detecting become one of your powers all of a sudden?"

"No. You're heartbeat picked up slightly when you answered me."

Bruce chuckled, feeling a touch of pride that she remembered one of his tricks.

"I know that you're not always here with me, that you're mind is at times elsewhere, even in lovemaking." Said Diana

A rise of guilt came over him as his eyes opened and shifted to the back of her head, trying desperately to read her emotions. Even the tone of her voice belied nothing that he could use to gauge her feelings and that her body seemed perfectly relaxed still, like a cat laying lazily in the sunlight of a window.

"Diana…" he said carefully as if performing surgery.

"I can see it within your eyes, the lines on your face." She said as she turned her head to gaze at him with magnetic, sharp blue eyes. Her smile was gone, making it harder for Bruce to choose his answer. "I know you're going over details of clues, figures, and worries. You're with Gotham."

"Yes." He answered forwardly

"It's alright." She said as she sat up and gave a reassuring smile. "I know what Gotham means to you and I gladly share you with it."

Bruce felt an uncommon awkwardness of acceptance. It felt as if he were staring directly at the sun. All at once he wanted to break the gaze to tone down the intensity but was too fearful of the idea that a moment such as this may never occur again in his life. He tried to control the beating of his heart, which was pulsing at a quickened pace while his fingers became flush with a white nervous cold. His mouth became dry at the effort to control the sudden change in his body while his legs flexed with an unknown anticipation.

Even though Diana's smile faded, her bright shining eyes looked lovingly straight into his very core. Bruce struggled to find words, _any_ words that he could say however it was Diana who broke eye contact first as she reached for his hand, kissing the calloused center of his palm before pressing it against her tender cheek and closing her eyes.

"Bruce, tell me I'm beautiful." She said

With that, Bruce's detective skills kicked back into gear at the seemingly suspicious request.

"Why?" he responded with his gravely soft low voice, a mix of Batman and Bruce Wayne.

Instantly realizing that this was not an interrogation he asked: "Why do you need to hear it from me? Aren't you the women voted most sought after to be saved by men?"

Diana remained quiet for a beat as his mind braced for any one of the emotional fall outs that may occur from his unintentionally curt treatment of her question.

"I know. But…I just want to hear _you_ say it." She answered almost shyly, still refusing to make eye contact as she kept his hand pressed to the side of her face.

With his heart threatening to jump out of his throat, Bruce gently lifted Diana's face up to meet his gaze as he gladly gave into her request and followed it with a gentle kiss that gave way to a heated mixed passion in the cold Gotham winter.


	2. Tygers Come At Night

The smell of the musky jungle filled Diana's lungs as she took off into the air. Looking back down on the ground, she waved good bye the medical staff at new Masina outpost medical station located near a small refugee camp in the outskirts of the Eastern Congo region. She had just finished her League mission of escorting medical supplies but stayed longer to help the displaced refugees in whatever way she could. There she felt the bonds of her very nature tug upon her to care for the displaced victims, there in the heart of the Congo her Amazon upbringing encouraged her to take to a sharp sword to end the heated civil war that destroyed so many. But the only thing that stopped her was the Leagues rules against interfering with the ongoing of other countries without consent.

"We need to maintain our distance and respect the government's wishes, no matter how we feel about their policies or leaders." She rememberd J'onn's voice reminding her many times in previous briefings

The Justice League could easily enforce whatever rule it wanted upon the earth whether it be benevolent or tyrannical. During one of their earlier adventures, Wonder Woman experienced the world of the Justice Lords, an alternate dimension version of the Justice League, and the oppression they created. To Diana though, the temptation of force to create peace allured her as she could not deny the lack of crime or even littering on that world, something that she wished she could see more of on her own.

She was well educated on the Democratic Republic of Congo. Diana knew of the geography, the language, culture, population and the plant and wildlife of the region. It was one of the most fascinating places on her to her. But that did little to hide the horror the waring factions could inflict upon each other and civilians. War was hell, the first and most basic lesson that was taught to her when she was young. Amazons who bore the scars and of previous battles often drilled the lesson into her over and over again and although they told some teribble stories to harden her resolve to fighting an enemy, she knew that they still held back some of the most terrible of details to spare her some sanity.

The only thing that allowed Diana to control herself was the words of Superman that more violence was the last thing these people needed. His voice always held and honest sincerity about it but even he couldn't mask the touch of outrage. Diana remembered she was also a member of the Justice League, a founding member as well as an emissary for Themscriya and that her actions and words were even as closely scrutinized as any leader of a nation.

She instead focused on the lush green of the land. Africa became one of Diana's favorite places to visit since it was so unique compared to anything else in man's world. It's variety of culture, animals, and plant life was as varied as its beauty that Diana once thought of relocating there if not for her already established life in Washington D.C. Often times she looked at the animals here that ran free. True she had visited a zoo several times but nothing could quite capture the majesty of a family of elephants traveling to a watering hole in the wild. There were animals she had read of that she could have never even imagined while growing up on Themscriya.

Making a mental note to talk to Bruce about accompanying her on a safari is what made her realize she had not yet contacted the league on her current mission status.

"Wonder Woman to watchtower." She said as she pushed the button on the side of the communicator logged in her left ear.

"This is Watchtower." Rang out Green Lantern's voice "Go ahead Wonder Woman."

"I've completed my mission and going to do a bit of sightseeing."

"Roger that Diana. Be careful out there. Let us know if you get into trouble."

"Copy that John. Have fun with monitor duty." She teased

With the League now nearly the size of a small army and even with its own supports staff, Diana found herself having a bit more free time to explore the world. She even found time to create her own secret identity and garner a new set of friends outside of the League. The most unexpected of events was her newly blossoming relationship with Batman, which she found great enjoyment. To Diana, it was as "normal" a life as she could create it and it gave her more fulfillments then the life of simply being Wonder Woman could ever give.

Below she watched a pack of silver back gorillas moving across into the thick rainforests. One small baby was cradled in one of the gorilla's arm as they disappeared into the cover of the trees. A simple smile traced her mouth when she heard the screams that sent the rest of the pack running into the safety of the jungle.

Diana flew lower to hear which direction where the sound came from. She strained her ear and wished for Superman's hearing ability before she heard it once again to her left. Through hard experience she instantly knew it wasn't the scream of an animal but a human scream of terror, something that Diana and many of those who were super hero's came to know well.

Dropping below the tree line, Diana stopped and hovered in place hoping to hear the scream once more to know which direction to travel. Her flawless cream colored skin and bright outfit stood out in stark contrast to the jungle foliage while her heart pumped in anticipation. She heard it once again as it came in frantic and continuous bursts in a language Diana did not understand but she knew that it was of a woman. With careful speed to dodge incoming trees, she hurried towards the sound as she could clearly hear other deeper voices mingling with the screams.

Then at once she came upon a clearing of grass where she could clearly see several bundles of broken branches that looked as if they were collected purposely by human hands. Ahead of the bundles was a sight that caused Diana to stop in place.

Two large worn looking hard top truck was parked several feet away from a group of six men who were dressed in a mish mash of military and civilian clothes who bore the insignia of a rebel faction. Outside of the two men who had skin as light as Diana's most of the men were black. Two of which were branding assault rifles they kept trained at the heads of two kneeling figures, a dark skinned man and woman who were yelling in a form of French that was native to the region. The other four men were on top of another lone woman, who Diana guessed was the couple's daughter who was no more than fourteen, as they screamed and laughed at the young woman's attempts to resist them. Diana watched as one of the men struck the young girl several times to subdue her before he pushed her legs open and positioned himself.

In that moment Diana was transported back to her childhood when she helped care for Pegasus's on Themscryria. She often rose early to help brush and feed the winged horses before most of the other Amazons were even awake. The island also housed several chimeras who had escaped and become feral in the wild and lived off hunting the native wild game. When she awoke to her duties on a fateful morning, she witnessed her first death in life as chimeras attacked one of the winged horses. She remembered the horses once white coat colored a dark maroon. Its wings were nothing more than a mess of bloody stumps and limp feathers as it struggled to free itself from the mass of claws and teeth. Diana felt the cold unreality seep into her muscles while the pack of chimeras brought down and finished off the Pegasus. Every detail of torn blood and flesh seared into her mind as she helplessly froze in place, unsure of how to react. Her only response was her silent tears of horror freely rolling down her cheeks while a wet warmness flooded fill her crouch and fell down her thighs at the sight that played out before her.

A sharp, almost inhuman high scream brought back Diana to the present and evaporated her cold shock into anger as she set upon the attackers with a new focused fury.

J'onn J'onzz, better known as the Martian Manhunter, stood in stoic concentration as he reached out with his mind through all the minds on the planet. His regal features frowned as his target was not only difficult to find but also threatened to overwhelm his mental capacities as well.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" asked Zatanna

She adjusted her stockings before nervously tracing the brim on her top hat with her magic wand. Even the rich and comfortable surroundings of the upscale London apartment did little to ease her fears of potentially battling against a fellow League member. J'onn was corrupted once before by a magical foe when he tried to penetrate the mind of Morgane Le Fey. She read the action report that Batman had filed and was not thrilled at the prospect of facing an opponent who could attack her mind.

"He has to be. Klarion the Witch boy has to be found for if we can't, we'll never find the Spear of Longinus or his plans for it." Said Jason Blood as he pushed a heavy log in his fireplace with his poker "Would you like some more tea?"

"Only if you can replace that "tea" with some Red wine." She joked as she tried to put on a confident smile.

"I think I have a 45 cheateau Varmont but I don't think that the current situation…."

"I mean I was just joking about the…"

"Oh. I'm sorry. I haven't gotten out much lately."

"Ch'yea, ya think?

Zatanna felt a tinge of guilt at her flip demeanor towards the more serious man. Although he didn't look older than his late thirties, Jason Blood was a magical immortal bound with the spirit of the hell demon Etrigan, who he can call fourth with a spoken word spell. Many knew that he was originally a knight from the dark ages when he became a cursed immortal and although well traveled and cultured, Jason was known to be a quiet and intense when focused on a task.

As Zatanna thought of a way to apologize, J'onn broke his concentration and turned to face towards the nearest window.

"J'onn? Are you alright?" she asked.

"Did you find Klarion?" asked Jason

"I didn't find Klarion but I felt something, something disturbing towards the south." He said as he gazed out the window with his intense red eyes.

"Should I alert the League?" asked Zatanna

"No. It's fine. I'm sure it was nothing." He said as he hovered in the air and crossed his legs in the traditional Martian meditation pose, resetting his focus to track his target.

It surprised Diana how fragile the human body could be as she held one of the rebels necks in her right hand. She squeezed tighter as the man thrashed against her strength as she could feel the thunderous pace of his pulse as his forearm, broken by a simple twist of Amazon strength, hung wrong and limp and flopped almost comically. Veins that were normally concealed under skin were now bulging out as her cold blue eyes stared directly into his.

How many? She wondered as she towered over the helpless figure. Her mind tried to wrap around the suffering that these men caused but the most surprising element was the age of some of the rebels who looked no older then the girl they were about to assault. But their youth did nothing to stow her wrath as she felt each of their bones break like simple sticks in her grip. Each of the men moaned softly on the ground with their weapons as broken as their bodies. The lucky ones were unconscious within the first few seconds.

The young man's dark eyes bulged outwards while his struggles weakened. She wanted to him to feel as powerless as the young girl he was going to violate, for all the countless others he had abused, tortured and killed.

Diana thought she could hear the word "please" escape out of his lips. That was enough for her to finish her assault with a savage punch to the rebels face to send him to unconsciousness before tossing him to the ground.

She clenched and unclenched her hands as she took deep ragged breaths. It was then she noticed the tears welling in her eyes, which surprised her. Who am I? She questioned as she looked at the broken body before her.

Her attacks were vicious enough to cause maximum pain but careful enough not to kill. None of the men would be able bodied for a long time but they would live to see punishment nonetheless. As much as she wanted to end their miserable lives and save future innocents any pain that they could inflict upon them, her time amongst the League tempered her rage.

Everything seemed to move sluggishly for her as looked at her hands and outfit, that had faint splatters of blood.

The family, she thought to herself as she took steps to regain her composure. They were behind her as she could remember the image of the couple running to cover and comfort the younger girl. She brushed aside the wetness from her eyes when she heard the crack of machine gun fire behind her.

Wonder Woman's eyes went wide as turned to see the older man clutching a smoking assault rifle in his hand while looking down at the now dead body of an incapacitated rebel.

"Brûler en enfer sale des animaux" he muttered

"NO!" she shouted as she used her lasso to disarm the man.

She moved towards the injured rebel as she checked for a pulse. It was a futile gesture as she saw a cluster of red emerging on the man's chest but Diana did not know what else to do. Instantly she popped up to yell at the rebel's killer when she saw the older woman reach for a pistol on the ground. Instantly she snatched her tiara off her head and disarmed the woman by throwing it into the back of her hand. In the back of her mind she made a mental note to thank Batman on giving her lessons on throwing stars as the golden tiara returned to her.

"No killing." She said as she slipped her tiara back into place

"Are you mad?! Have you seen what they were going to do to Faiza?! What they would've done to me again!?" asked the woman. Her Afrikaner accent giving a unique cadence Diana had to adjust to.

She was dressed in a mustard yellow skirt and a blue shirt with a white head wrap that gave her naturally round face the appearance of a perfect circle, as the woman approached Diana with an anger that nearly matched her own. Sunlight glistened off the fine sheen of sweat on her ebony skin. Her high cheekbones made her look quite striking as it reminded Diana of some of the statues on her island home.

The older man who had played executioner was also dressed simply but not as colorfully. His hair was peppered with light patches of grey that gave his face an air of rough, working class nobility. Diana couldn't tell how old he was but she guessed from the wrinkles on his face that he was at least 60 years old. He had paunch that protruded over his waistline but had large, well defined forearms that were created by years of working with ones hands.

But it was their eyes that haunted Diana the most. She had seen that look on her mother's eyes and the eyes of the older amazons on the anniversary of the betrayal she suffered at the hands of Ares.

"These men will be taken to the authorities and…"

"These _men_ are filthy garbage who must be _eradicated_ from the earth." Cutoff the older man who stabbed his finger at the ground in front of him. "Hell is the only place that can meet the crimes of these devils."

"You will not kill these men. I won't allow it." Responded Diana

"Will you and your _Justice_ League come and enforce peace?" asked the woman as she turned to tend to the crying young girl who was curled up in the fetal position with what remained of her clothes.

"The Justice League has rules that we have to…"

"Then all you do is delay the inevitable. The rebels_ will_ seek retribution for your assault with compounded interest, if not on us the on _others." _Said the older man before turning around to tend to the traumatized young girl

Diana took the moment to secure the area and destroyed any functioning weapons that were left over. Rage smoldered off her she collected the remaining incapacitated rebels, her mind churned of some of the most violent tortures that she could incur upon their helpless forms. By the time she was finished, she wanted nothing more than to wash her hands after handling men of such vile nature.

However the sound of the young girl's snuffling brought Diana back away from the dark corners of her mind. She looked over to see the young girl, now wearing the shirt of the older man, trying to gather her large bundle of branches. Diana felt petty for as angry and disgusted she had felt for witnessing the attack was nothing compared to what violation the young girl had experienced. Diana understood now that any violence would only serve her and would do nothing to heal the girl.

"What is your name?" Diana asked as she walked towards the girl. She looked at Diana as if she had asked her for a plum in a hat. "Do you understand me?"

'Y-y-yes." The girl answered as she looked back towards the older couple as if asking for permission. Her left eye and nose were swollen and discolored. "Faiza. My name is Faiza."

"That's a pretty name. Mine is Diana." She answered with a softness that was usually reserved for Bruce. "Are you alright?" she asked feeling stupid for asking such a question. Any sense of well being was now destroyed.

Faiza didn't seem to know how to answer as she stared at the pile of wood at her feet. "I need to gather the wood. We need it to help us survive. People pay us for whatever we collect and we need the money." She answered almost robotically.

Diana moved in to help her when Faiza dropped her bundle and jumped back away from her as if her touch was poisonous.

"It's ok. I'm not here to hurt you or your parents." Diana comforted.

"They are not my parents. My parents…"

"It's alright Faiza. You don't have to say anymore." Said the older woman as she wrapped her arms around the younger girl to give whatever assurance she could. "My name is Sadie. This is my brother Hasan. Faiza's parents were our neighbors in the camp before they disappeared. Faiza has no one else to watch after her."

Diana's heart beat heavily at the weight of the news. She longed to go home to Themscryia as everything in man's world right now was too much to bear.

"If you are done with the mess you are making of our lives…" berated Hasan before Sadie could quiet him and shooed him away.

"It's alright. I understand his anger and share it. Please let me help you gather your wood and escort you back to the camp." Diana answered as she loosened her lasso from her hip.

"Then maybe we can use the truck to help us." Said Hasan as he opened the tailgate and then froze in shock.

"Hasan, are you alright?" asked Diana as she moved towards the older man.

When she reached him, Diana turned to look inside the bed and understood the shock of the older man. Inside were three women of various ages with their hands and legs bound cowering in the back of the truck. Each of them were in various states of undress and each had the same look of fear in their eyes that Faiza wore when the men had attacked.

"Hera." Whispered Diana.


End file.
